Author Topic: 13 inch wheels  (Read 13345 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Minijohn

  • Subscribers
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 162
  • Karma: 5
  • Location: Membury, Devon.
Re: 13 inch wheels
« Reply #30 on: March 17, 2020, 11:30:54 PM »
Hi Ricardo
To be honest, the Smart Car seats were a bit of a pain to fit. It's not as straightforward as you might think.
I'm 6'2" so need the seats quite a long way back.
If you're shorter, then fitting is easier.

The main difficulty is the right side of the tunnel where the hot air comes through from the engine.
That narrows the car quite a bit and required some serious bashing with a big hammer to give clearance for the seat runner.
I also had to cut away some of the seat metalwork to give clearance. (you can see this on the photo)

The 126 seat runners were in the way so I cut them off with an angle grinder.

If you get some Smart Car seats, make sure you get the subframes they bolt to and the seat belt stalks that are bolted to the seats.
You can they concentrate on fitting the subframes to the car & then simply bolt the seats to the subframes.
The seats end up very close to the door frame, so before you do the final fit of the subframe, put the seats on the subframes to make sure all is OK.
The odd thing about the seats is that although they look the same, they are different left/right. The subframes are completely different and the seats themselves will only fit on the correct subframe, you can't switch them over.
I fitted the right side seat on the left side of the car & the left side seat on the right side.

You'll need to remove the "ears" near the headrests the seatbelts pass through. I cut them off with an angle grinder.
You can bin the 126 seatbelt stalks as the Smart Car's bolt to the seat itself and the 126 belt buckle fits perfectly.

Also, on right hand drive Smart cars, only the right hand seat reclines. The left seat will tip forward but not recline.

Having said all that, I'm well pleased with the result.
They're probably not the comfiest of seats, but they're a heck of an improvement over the originals and look much better too.
I guess they should be safer as the headrest is much taller than the 126's.

Good luck
« Last Edit: March 17, 2020, 11:33:20 PM by Minijohn »

Ricardo Regalo

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Karma: 0
  • Location: Sintra Portugal
Re: 13 inch wheels
« Reply #31 on: March 20, 2020, 03:18:50 PM »
Hi Minijohn,

thank you for the insight.

After what you said, I'm thinking twice about using the Smart's seats. They look good indeed, but they seem way too much trouble. I was going for something a bit easier to accomplish.

However, I'm still keen on upgrading the seats on mine. The good news is that I found online plenty of second hand seats available at affordable prices to choose from. Just have to study well in advance an opt for the ones that are the easiest fit/better looking/most comfortable, and then plan the installing. I believe a good plan, always saves a lot of work  ;).

Cheers.   

Joe Webb

  • Super Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 147
  • Karma: 1
  • 1999 Fiat 126p elx, 1981 Matra Muren, 1971 Greeves
  • Location: Hove, UK
Re: 13 inch wheels
« Reply #32 on: April 04, 2020, 10:32:29 PM »
I guys, I know this is an old post, but I happen to have the exact same model as Joe, a Polish 126 ELX.
I still have the original 12 inch wheels on mine. I read on your posts that a swap for the 13 inch wheels with PCD 4x98 is a straight through job.
I always wanted to have bigger wheels on my 126. I think that they look nicer and should be a slightly smoother ride. My question (though maybe a stupid one ::)) is regarding the wheel arches. Won't there be the problem with the possibility the front wheels will touch the arches when turning?
I've seen some for sale sale in my country (Portugal) that are 5.5x13 4x98 65mm. I believe the 5.5 is the width, right? What about the 65mmm? They were from a fiat punto does anyone know if this will fit?
I "fell in love" with the following, but I thing they are too expensive.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Fondmetal-GT5-wheels-4x98-5-5x13-split-Fiat-Lancia-Abarth-Autobianchi/174124309267?hash=item288a9e1b13:g:p90AAOSwT75d81yj

Will appreciate any input someone may have.
 

Hey just spotted this,

I've been off the forum for 4 years as my car was laid up but coronavirus has given me the time I need to fix it haha

My wheels and tyres are the same as they were back then and they fit great. There is a tiny tiny bit of scrub on full right lock but that's it
1999 Fiat 126p elx, 1971 Greeves Pathfinder, 72 Datsun 240z

Joe Webb

  • Super Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 147
  • Karma: 1
  • 1999 Fiat 126p elx, 1981 Matra Muren, 1971 Greeves
  • Location: Hove, UK
Re: 13 inch wheels
« Reply #33 on: April 04, 2020, 10:37:32 PM »
Hi Minijohn,

thank you for the insight.

After what you said, I'm thinking twice about using the Smart's seats. They look good indeed, but they seem way too much trouble. I was going for something a bit easier to accomplish.

However, I'm still keen on upgrading the seats on mine. The good news is that I found online plenty of second hand seats available at affordable prices to choose from. Just have to study well in advance an opt for the ones that are the easiest fit/better looking/most comfortable, and then plan the installing. I believe a good plan, always saves a lot of work  ;).

Cheers.

I'm about to gut my old seicento for the engine, brakes etc. And the seats look like the rails line up directly with the raised section for the seat rails on the floor pan.

Cutting the original rails off will be a pain in the arse though as I have noticed whilst welding in new ones. There are a lot of spot welds holding those things in and the welds go through 3 layers of metal.

You'd be better off grinding the rails off from above
1999 Fiat 126p elx, 1971 Greeves Pathfinder, 72 Datsun 240z